Seattle homicides plunge to 55-year low

List of 2010 homicides in Seattle

By CASEY MCNERTHNEY, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Updated 1:19 pm, Monday, June 6, 2011

EDITOR'S NOTE: After this story was posted, Michelle Thornton was found strangled to death at her Belltown apartment in the 100 block of Vine Street. The King County Medical Examiner, who classified her death as a homicide Jan. 10, determined she died Dec. 30. Seattle police count her death in the 2011 list, but she is included here because of her death date. Her case was the 20th Seattle homicide in 2010, and makes that annual number the lowest since 1958. Read more here.

ORIGINAL STORY: Mirroring other major U.S. cities, Seattle's homicides plunged to a historic 55-year low last year to 19, a seattlepi.com analysis of department records found.

Some Oregon Residents Upset at Prospect of Pumping Their Own GasBuzz 60

Doug Baldwin playcallingBy Michael-Shawn Dugar, SeattlePI

Van Crashes Into Pedestrians Injuring SixAssociated Press

US military to accept transgender recruits after Trump drops appealEuronews

Snow on Christmas Eve, 2017Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Ice carving at WinterfestSeattle Post-Intelligencer

Amtrak derails near OlympiaGrant Hindsley / SeattlePI

Golden retriever meets Darth Vader and EwokSeattle Post-Intelligencer

The last time the city had that number was in 1956.

Of last year's homicides, nine stemmed from domestic violence. Four incidents ended with the killer committing suicide. Police arrested or identified suspects in nearly all of the cases, and most victims knew their attackers.

Department officials also acknowledged that Harborview Medical Center -- one of the nation's best trauma hospitals -- has likely saved the lives of many serious assault victims.

Seattle's drop in violent deaths parallels similar drops in Washington D.C. and Chicago, and follows a decrease in other violent crimes. Seattle homicides have dropped by 47 percent since 2000, when the number of violent deaths totaled 36. They were also a stark contrast to the violence in the 90s. There were 69 homicides in 1994.

The homicide counts don't include traffic fatalities or officer-involved shootings, of which three men were killed by police. The data was gathered from annual reports, and the 2010 number was confirmed by Sgt. Sean Whitcomb.

While violent crime has dropped in Seattle, the department is still struggling with a surge in vehicle theft, which increased by 17 percent in the first 10 months of last year, compared with the same time period in 2009.

The department is also coping with a string of videotaped use-of-force incidents, which prompted the Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer to say last year that police personnel "have to grow up a little bit and recognized that we are in a video age."

The incident happened a few minutes after 11 p.m. in the 1400 block of North Northgate Way. Initially several North Precinct officers and a police dog tried to track three suspects, described as black men, in their late 20s or early 30s, wearing all black clothing. At least one was said to be armed with a pistol.

Three days later police released a sketch of one of the men suspected in the slayings of Wood, 18, and Petersons, 20.

Police haven't discredited the sketch, but search warrant documents released in February suggest the victims were intended to be subjects of a robbery gone bad.

A man who identified himself to police as one of the suspects in the double homicide allegedly told police that the roommate of the two men set up the incident because he needed money and didn't mean for his roommates to get shot. But no charges have been filed.

Police found Parker in a 76 gas station parking lot, sitting in the driver's seat of his GMC truck. The 56-year-old had been shot three times in the head and was unarmed.

His wife arrived at the scene at Terry Avenue and James Street about 4 a.m. -- roughly 90 minutes after Parker was found dead -- and was distraught. Police say she told about a "loud discussion" her husband had with someone at their home earlier that morning. She initially wouldn't identity the other person, but later conceded it was her stepson, according to court documents.

Police investigated a tip that that the stepson, Zachary E. Collins, shot Parker because he thought Parker had been molesting the stepson's mentally disabled brother. The molestation allegation hasn't been proven.

Collins was charged with second-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty and the case is ongoing.

Andrew Ray Johnson, March 28

About 11:45 p.m. on March 28, 911 dispatchers got a report of shots fired outside a home in the 4600 block of South Brandon Street. As officers were driving there, they were told a person was on the ground in front of the home.

They found Johnson unresponsive. The 24-year-old died at the scene from wounds to the head and chest.

The month before his death, police used a Taser on Johnson, who they say was uncooperative and dangerous. Court records show he was previously enrolled at a mental health facility.

The night of the shooting, police say the suspected shooter, another man and two women were in a vehicle parked in the 4600 block of South Brandon Street. The driver noticed Johnson walking toward the vehicle then Johnson suddenly came at him through the driver's side window, according to court documents.

The driver accelerated and lost sight of Johnson. He then came around to drop both women off and stopped on the side of the road.

"Andrew Johnson suddenly emerged from the shadows and ran toward the passenger side grabbing at (the suspect) who fired three shots at Andrew Johnson striking his body," Seattle Police Detective Russell Weklych wrote in a probable cause document.

The 23-year-old man who police say shot Johnson was arrested April 2 and booked the following morning into King County Jail. But he hasn't been charged.

Pond was found dead in Unit 11 of the Way West Motel at 8600 Aurora Ave. N. Police say the 31-year-old was killed by her partner, Fabian O. Hudson, 39, who then took his own life, also by gunfire.

The bodies of the couple, known as City and Cece to neighbors, had stayed for more than a week before residents called a motel manager complaining of a smell. Neighbors were shocked to hear of the deaths.

At 12:24 p.m. May 3, police received a call from the motel manager saying he'd found the two dead. Hudson was found on the couch.

Steve Sok was shot in the head about 2:45 a.m. in the 2100 block of Second Avenue. The 21-year-old died at the scene. A 44-year-old man also was shot in the stomach, but survived.

A man who lives near Second Avenue and Blanchard Street took an iPhone video that captures the eight gunshots being fired. Though the video doesn't show anyone being hit, but includes the disturbing sounds of someone screaming afterward.

In late June, prosecutors filed second-degree murder and second-degree assault charges against Felix Sitthivong, a suspected gang member who a witness said was confrontational the night of the shooting.

Nam Viet Nguyen and Jason Reeves Lee also were charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance after police said they helped Sitthivong flee to Long Beach, Calif. The three pleaded not guilty.

Police say Hall, 39, was shot to death by Lakesha Shaniel French, who later killed herself on a dead end road in the 14400 block of Interurban Avenue South.

That morning, French asked her apartment complex neighbor to accompany her on some errands. They drove to Westwood Village where French purchased paperwork to complete a will, which she did later that day, according to court documents.

About three and a half hours later, police responded to Hall's shooting in the 1400 block of South Hinds Street. A neighbor reported hearing shots, a scream and more shots.

The neighbor looked down the street and saw a woman leaning out of the passenger side of a car with a gun in her hand, shooting a man on the ground. The vehicle fled eastbound. The witness couldn't confirm that the shooter was the sole occupant, though she didn't see anyone else.

Hall was shot six times and died at the scene.

About 3 p.m. that day -- roughly 10 minutes after the shooting -- French called her mother and said "that she had shot and probably killed her boyfriend, Shawn, that she still had the gun, and was going to kill herself," according to court documents.

The 9 mm pistol she killed herself with shortly after was tired to casings recovered at the homicide scene.

About 3:20 a.m. Aug. 21, police were called to a man unconscious in a fenced-off area of the 1000 block of Valley Street. That man, Arturo Delarosa-Martinez, died from a single gunshot wound to the head, according to the King County Medical Examiner's office.

Police say his body was found near a Quinceranera, a Latin American celebration of a girl's 15th birthday, being held at the Naval Reserve Building.

Delarosa-Martinez and the others weren't there long before investigators say rival gang members arrived and a fight started. Gang signs were flashed and one rival gang member showed a chrome-plated handgun.

"Several 'VL's' jumped DeLarosa and knocked him to the ground and started pummeling DeLarosa," according to the probable cause document.

Another man tried to help Delarosa-Martinez and also was attacked. The fight shifted to different places in the building and the last time he was seen, Delarosa-Martinez was standing up swinging at two of his attackers.

Michael Kniezewski, Sept. 12

Prosecutors say Kniezewski, 21, was strangled by another homeless man near the Seattle Police West Precinct.

That man, Joshua S. Stattman, 32, was arrested after he returned to the homicide scene in the 900 block of Virginia Street and allegedly admitted to the crime. He allegedly said he and Kniezewski drank three beers in the doorway of the Urban Rest Stop in the 1900 block of 9th Avenue.

"Stattman said that the victim told him that he was depressed for a number of reasons and was determined to end his life," Detective Rolf Norton wrote in a probable-cause statement. "Stattman told detectives that the victim then asked for his assistance."

The suspect showed the victim a strap in his bag, and Stattman claimed Kniezewski took it and tied a knot. Prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder and his case is ongoing.

Jonathan Chhonn, Sept. 17

Shortly before 3 a.m. Sept. 17, Seattle police responded to the 2500 block of 29th Avenue South, where Chhonn was shot in the face inside his ground-floor apartment. He later died from multiple gunshot wounds at Harborview Medical Center.

Investigators said he was shot through an open window and are looking for two men in the crime. Police described the suspects as Asian men, 5-foot-7 inches to 5-foot-8 inches tall, in the late teens to early 20s. Investigators say they wore wearing blue jeans and dark jackets or shirts and left the apartment building in a white sedan with a low back end.

Seattle police also were looking into a possible connection between Chhonn's fatal shopoting and two other incidents: Sok's Belltown homicide in June, a double fatality at Lake Sammamish State Park in July. On Chhonn's Facebook page, he wrote that he missed Steve Sok.

However, police say they've found no concrete link that ties the killings together and have not discussed the case publicly other than the initial reports. No arrests have been made.

Martin's only offense, prosecutors contend, was approaching Thip and others who'd gathered in the park during the early morning hours to drink beer.

"The defendant's actions -- the brutal and senseless murder of a man who posed no threat to him -- demonstrate that he presents an extreme danger to the community," Senior Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Baird said in court documents.

In another case, Thip previously pleaded guilty to rendering criminal assistance charges related to a deadly shooting at a Pacific community center. He has been charged with second-degree murder for Martin's death and pleaded not guilty. His case is ongoing.

"Saroeun Phan has been struggling with schizophrenia and depression for several years and has sought medical attention numerous times," family members said in a statement. "She has been taking medication prescribed to her by physicians.

"It is not certain whether she has been properly taking her medication these past couple of months."

Police say at some point during the Thursday rampage, the 60-year-old armed herself with another gun and fired at least 20 rounds total at the family home in the 9400 block of Southwest Roxbury Street in West Seattle, where members of three related families lived.

It may have been her intention to kill everyone who lived there, police said.

Police say Jackson, 29, was shot about 2:40 a.m. Oct. 23 near 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street by Pierce A. Dubois, 27. Seattle police say the suspected shooter told officers he had shot Jackson early Saturday, after Jackson had accused him of sleeping with Jackson's "baby's mama," according to a probable cause document.

An off-duty police officer at the scene told responding officers he'd heard three or four shots, then saw a man running away on 12th Avenue South. Officers saw a green Cadillac Escalade pull onto 12th Avenue South with its headlights off.

Police arrested the driver, who fled. Dubois was later arrested running from an area under Interstate 5 known as The Jungle. He's pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

Police say Yohannes was shot about 4:40 p.m. at the northwest corner of Second Avenue and Pike Street by Tomas Afeworki, a man prosecutors describe as a cold-blooded killer. Investigators haven't said exactly what motivated the attack on Yohannes, 31.

Afeworki, who was arrested after trying to hide in Zaina Food, Drinks and Friends at 109 Pine St., h ad been released from prison in September 2009 and was under Department of Corrections supervision for multiple crimes when the shooting occurred. Yohannes also had a troubled life, with at least 39 jail bookings since 1997, multiple drug convictions and several felonies.

LaMagno was walking home from the grocery store when he was attacked at random by Michael La-Rosa, a man with mental issues including schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder.

La-Rosa, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, allegedly told police he "had just killed a guy," shortly after the attack.

Police say LaMagno was repeatedly hit in the head in the 1400 block of East Union Street and still had his grocery bag in his hand, showing he had little or no time to react to the fatal beating. The attack was witnessed by some Seattle Academy students leaving school.

In an obituary published Sunday in the Englewood, Fla., Sun, Lamagno was described as an Streator, Ill. native and graduate of the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

Dale Richard Holme, Nov. 26

Holme who found at 8:50 p.m. that day bleeding from the head near Fifth Avenue South and South Weller Street, in Seattle's International District. He died at Harborview Medical Center after languishing for five days.

Investigators initially had trouble determining whether the man fell or had been attacked. But an autopsy revealed Holme died of head trauma caused by multiple chop wounds. His death has been classified as a homicide, and Michael La-Rosa was named as a suspect after being arrested a day after the attack on Holme.

LaMagno, who remains in King County Jail, has not been charged in Holme's case.